Us against the world

Life has been weird lately. We had some creepy guy knock on the door late at night and ask to leave his broken down truck in our yard. He acted like he'd be back that night to fix it, but it sat for 10 days. Last Saturday, he was out there when I got up, but left before too long. Then, we noticed the license plates were gone. So, I finally called the cops yesterday. The dispatcher treated me like I was some kind of idiot for not confronting the guy when he came back. But, a very nice officer came out and used the vin # to contact the dealership that had recently sold the car to the fella I met. They apparently gave the officer the number of the man, so a few hours later a couple showed up to claim the truck. Oddly enough, neither of them was the original man. But, I'm no detective, so I didn't ask any questions. Well, that couple left and the tow truck showed up a bit later and hauled the truck off. I thought, at that point, I was done with the drama. A few hours later, though, I get a knock on the door from a new creepy guy who demanded to know where the truck was. I told him the owner towed it. He said the guy waiting the in the car in my driveway was the owner (I think they were from the dealership which the officer had earlier described as "shady"). So, being the concerned citizen that I am, I told him he could take it up with the police, and quietly hoped he wouldn't be waiting under my porch in the morning to take me out. Well, it's after 10 Tuesday night, and so far no creepy men have knocked on our door, unless you count the guy from Broadway baptist who gave me a noticeably traditional flier for their Easter service (he was very nice actually).

Drama #2, though these are in no particular order. Last Saturday we passed out fliers for our Big Hunt which takes place this Saturday. So, today when the ladies checked the answering machine, there was a lovely message from a concerned Sister in Christ. She reemed us first for putting trash on her door, an act which is apparenlty a hienous crime. I'm guessing she gives the mailman a tongue lashing regularly. Then, of course, she informed us that it is immoral to have an Easter Egg hunt period, and even more immoral that a Christian illusionist is performing at our event. I was not aware, but apparently Easter is all about the death and resurrection of Jesus instead of bunnies and the dark arts. Strangely, miss morality police did not leave a call back number and, oddly, she called at a time that no one would ever be answering phones. I'm sure sure it's for the best because I'd hate to pull her to the dark side be informing her that the illusionist does illusions, not real magic, or that his sole purpose is to share the Gospel. And, she certainly wouldn't want to know that we are trying to be a blessing to our community WHILE building relationships and sharing the Gospel as opposed to simply beating people over the head with scripture or telling them they're going to Hell with no hope. Alright, I've used my sarcasm quota for this paragraph.

Drama #3: school
Some of you may know that I recenlty discovered that my "distance learning" program at New Orleans requires 4 classes that do not have an on-line, 1-week workshop/seminar, or hybrid (one class a month) format. One of those classes I can test out of, leaving me with one Ministry Practicum (2 hours), and two spiritual formation classes (1 hour each). As far as standard procedure goes, I must take these classes in a classroom in a regular semester format. And the closest place I can do that is Shreveport, LA, a mere 8 hours from Springfield. I goes without saying that this is impossible. Classes are on Monday mornings so I'd have to either leave Sunday afternoon or drive all night, and then I'd miss a whole day of work every week for two semesters. What is frustrating is that I really had to dig to figure this out. The whole time I've been reading how this program appeals to full-time ministers and people who can't go to school in the usual format. It's frustrating that I have options for the other 91 hours of my 95 hour degree, but these 4 hours are holding me back.

Anyway, when I was accepted I received a one page letter with the only instructions
they offered me. Basically, all I was told was that I have to attend an orientation on campus before I complete my first 15 hours of classes and that I need to contact my advisor before I register for classes. So, I contact him to ask what I can do about these spiritual formation classes which I'm supposed to take on a campus my first two semesters in school. That was last Tuesday. Then on Thursday, I sent the email again (I've had terrible communication with this Christian institution and been treated at least with extreme indifference by everyone I've contacted. I don't think I've received a response from anyone without emailing them several times over the course of a few weeks. So I'm already frustrated by that). Well, Monday I call and get his voicemail and leave a message to call me. He doesn't, so today I call and get a hold of him. Maybe I'm reading in to our conversation, but I think he was annoyed that I've been bugging him. He basically told me that I shouldn't be asking him questions because I should have learned what I needed in orientation (which I don't have to take yet). He also said he's been too busy to respond. I won't go in to the whole conversation, but suffice it to say we did not hit it off.

After hanging up, I received a very quick email where I was basically called ignorant because apparenlty I'm supposed to have every little rule and policy memorized already. I'd love to say that I told him what I was thinking, but this guy holds my future in his hands. So, I apologized profusely for being annoying (I'd like to say it was a love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you thing, but that wasn't entirely my goal), informed him that I'm actually well aware of the policies and am looking for loopholes, and that I'm willing to work my tail off to get this degree. But I also said I cannot justify quitting my job to attend school just because four credit hours are holding me back. So, he quickly responded with other people to contact which is at least a step in the right direction (that direction is "away"). I've contacted the person in charge of spiritual formation classes, so we'll see how many days, emails, and phone calls it takes to get a response from him.

Anyway, I'm really frustrated with NOBTS. I know I was spoiled with people who actually cared at SBU. I understand I probably won't have an advocate like I did in college. But I at least want to feel like the staff and professors aren't fighting against me or completely ignoring me. I honestly expect more out of a seminary, which is probably my first mistake. So, I guess you can be in prayer with me about that. If I didn't want it so bad, I'd probably let this discourage me to the point of giving up because if it's already this hard, it's only going to get worse. But, I'm going to work hard and stretch myself and make this happen even if it kills me.

So that's the life part of Bible and Life. I'm working on a new Revelation post which will be done soon.

-Matt